Image Designer Archive

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Syzygy-Gorath wrote:

Has it occurred to anyone else that if we don't know what the features of our minipublish are supposed to be we have no benchmark for whether those features are functioning as intended? While I am very excited to be seeing additions to our profession, I'm incredibly upset with the total lack of communication on specifics that's gone on throughout the process. We had no "In Concept" thread because we were told our internal brainstorming was more than sufficient. We had no "In Development" thread because our followup conversations were supposedly good enough not to need one. If this is the case how did things so simple as particle effects being tied to tents slip through the cracks? How did the fact that we want to be able to register, not be tied to static NPC cities to be found get missed?

In short, I am very unhappy with how this was handled by the development team. The lack of communication caused several changes to almost come into being that do not fit with the average ID playstyle, and even then they didn't learn from their mistakes and now want us to test systems whose functionality we don't even know. While communication has seemingly gotten better, the vast majority of replies we and other communities get are brush-offs at best. In order for this game to reach its full potential this sort of "wait and see, we have a great surprise" has to stop.

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If this is comforting at all, I've been aware of the particle effects possibly being tied to the tents for a good month or two, and it was recently that it was decided to not have them be tied to the tents after all. Registration from the tents was something that was discussed but there was not enough time to implement it. I haven't gotten the impression at any point that the devs were not clear on what it was we wanted. But there are other things for them to consider, such as whether there are enough resources and time to get something done, whether the time available would be best spent on something else for maximum benefit, and whether or how a change might impact other aspects of the game. Honestly I think this community can handle a LOT of information. I have to tell you though that I have been through times of panic when something or another didn't seem like it was going to happen the way you guys would like, and have seen several things be taken out of the in concept because of lack of time which has been sad. Sure you guys will think that you could handle the disappointment and panic and whatnot and the vast majority of you could and that's why this community rocks. But as a general rule there are reasons why some things are not revealed until they are almost a sure thing, or are a sure thing. I can say on a positive note that communication has vastly improved within the correspondent program and if communication is flowing well to your correspondent in wahtever profession you can be sure it's being delivered to Thunderheart and then on to the devs. Overall I'm extremely impressed with how much impact us players have on game development, and here I include all of you. The devs DO lurk in the forums and do a lot of reading, and proof can be seen in how they occasionally post, even on a tiny forum like ours As soon as the publish goes to TC my personal NDA is lifted and I will be able to reveal all. And if there's anything we're not sure about I can ask and get the answer

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Kwee wrote:

Now there is one thing coming with Test Center that I've been wanting known for a looooong time because it's going to be very controversial It's going to have to be an In Testing thread now.

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This doesn't sound good. I hope it isn't something that is going to force me to keep my Image Designer tag turned off all the time. I really see them wanting to get us very much involved in the GCW and that would mean tell hell that has nothing to do with actual image design. I really don't want anything that will change the basic function of image design and make the fun stuff just some "extra fluff" that no one really cares about. That is one reason why I have not been complaining that we should be able to place our own tents. If they wil be used for something like removing overt status, then the tents should be somewhat inconvenient for everyone involved so that you really have to *want* to use them.

Message Edited by Gyopi on 05-04-2004 07:00 PM

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Syzygy-Gorath wrote:

That's exactly my point—wait and see doesn't cut it. Wait and see nearly got our particle effects tied to 5 static locations. Wait and see leaves us with dull, drab, dim tent interiors.

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Just a reminder that the tents were not dull, drab, and dim by design. Our dev did not have time to decorate the interior before they had to go to Test Center. And our particle effects almost were tied to 5 static locations, that's definitely true But I'd been harping on about how awful that would be for quitea few weeks, and combined with postsin our forumonthe topic,the devs discussed it and agreed it would be best to let us do them wherever. Now there is one thing coming with Test Center that I've been wanting known for a looooong time because it's going to be very controversial It's going to have to be an In Testing thread now. I hope I don't sound like I'm not sympathizing, obviously I get to hear all kinds of things way earlier than anyone else. But even there I can say that as a correspondent I have received information much earlier than others have in the past. As Thunderheart posted in the Smuggler forum recently, our community was the guinea pig for an increased communication between correspondent getting a revamp and the devs, and in turn between the correspondent and community. You may not realize because I trickled it all out over a long time period, but we got a LOT of information really early.